Danny Welbeck, Adnan Januzaj and Phil Jones all missed from the spot, with Vito Mannone's save from Rafael sending Sunderland into their first final for 22 years.

The defeat means the Old Trafford giants, already out of the FA Cup and with the Premier League out of reach, have only the Champions League and a fourth-placed finish left to play for this season.

Deflated United boss Moyes said: "We didn't play well enough to merit going through. Sunderland came here and deservedly got themselves in the final.

"In the end, I just don't think we got the level of performance we needed to get through the game. It went to penalties - and our penalties were terrible. Ideally, it wouldn't have been the group we had chosen. Javier would have taken a penalty but was injured and people like Michael Carrick would have been involved."

"But the bigger disappointment was how we played. Of course you would expect a better standard because, don't forget, there were a lot of internationals out there.

"It's part and parcel of the job at times. There's always going to be a loser in a semi-final and it happens to be us. We didn't execute our penalties well enough.

"If we were going to get through, we were going to stumble over the line, not because we played well enough."

Moyes was also unhappy with keeper David De Gea, who fumbled a relatively-harmless Phil Bardsley shot into his own net for what seemed the Black Cats' victory-clinching goal late in extra time.

"David's been really good this season," the Scot told Sky Sports News. "Keepers do make mistakes but it was a costly one, with a minute to go, but that happens in football."

Moyes declined to answer questions on Juan Mata, who is expected to undergo a medical on Thursday to push his transfer from Chelsea closer to completion.

Members of the media were informed before the post-match press conference that Moyes would be answering questions on the game only and when asked afterwards about Mata, the Scot said simply: "We are not saying anything."